In the Strangest of Places
by LilyVanity
Summary: A sequel to "Beauty and the Beast." After a bombing raid in the Darklands, Daisy goes missing, leaving her eight year old daughter Lily, and the rest of her loved ones to mourn. Eight years later, Lily goes searching for her mom. After undergoing sexual encounters, finding out secrets, and the truth about her mom, Lily sees that anything can happen in the strangest of places.


"Lily, watch out! You'll get hurt!"

"Oh, shush, Francesco. It doesn't hurt to be brave once on a while!"

"But be sensible! What if you fall down?"

"I climb trees all the time."

"That doesn't mean you won't fall this time!"

_It was a typical summer day, the days I long for now. My bright red ponytail swishing around as I swung off tree branches; my cousin Francesco worrying needlessly. Those days that ended with Mama taking walks with me in the garden, and then eating ice cream as Papa told me stories of the many kingdoms._

"Lily, we need to go home now! Get down from there!"

"Five more minutes, Frankie! Five more minutes won't hurt!"

"Mother said we need to be home before the sun goes down. If we don't get home now they'll be worried and angry with us!"

"Fine you big baby!"

_Only now do I wish I had listened to Frankie that day, and then maybe things wouldn't be so hard now. Maybe things would have a sense of normalcy. Maybe Mama would take me on those walks again, and Papa wouldn't cry._

"Race you Frankie!"

"Lily, wait up! What are you looking at?" Francesco called out, wondering why Lily had run so far ahead, only to stop. She was not even beckoning him towards her, or mocking his stamina, she was just staring out into the open fields that led to castle, where she and her parents lived.

"Frankie… what do you think is going on?" The little ginger girl whispered as her cousin finally caught up. The once beautiful, clear purple skies of the Dark Lands had turned into a menacing concoction of red and black smoke. Flames licked at the homes of the many goombas and koopas that had called this place their home. The walls of the castle were crumbling to the ground.

"Lily, are you okay?" Francesco asked, grabbing Lily's hand.

"M-mommy is in there. And so is Auntie… W-we need to go s-save them! We need to go now!" Lily cried out, tears staining her pale cheeks. The two eight year olds ran to the village, calling out for their mothers.

"Francesco, Lily, you guys are alright! Thank goodness!" It was Peach, now queen of the Mushroom Kingdom. She scooped the two children into her arms, and dashed into a safe house, where Mario, Bowser, Luigi, and Rosalina were waiting for them.

Lily ran up to her father, jumping into his arms. "Papa, where's Mama? Please tell me she's alright? Please tell me she's okay?"

Bowser stroked his daughter's hair with his pale hands, still amazed he was no longer a monster, but a human once more. "Sweetheart, I don't know. I was coming back from a trip with your Uncle Mario and Uncle Luigi, and we came back to this ruin. I couldn't find her anywhere. We didn't even know Peach was okay until now."

Lily looked at her aunt, who was holding Francesco closely. "Auntie, please tell me Mama is okay?"

"Lily, darling, she… she was stuck in the wreckage. I tried getting her out, I really did. By the time I was able to get any help, I couldn't find her. She was gone. Maybe we got lucky and someone saved her. We just need to keep our hopes up, I'm sure she'll turn up eventually.

Lily cried into her father's dirty, rumpled shirt. She could not block out the screams from outside. So much pain and sorrow, but why? Who had decided that they needed to attack the Dark Lands? The Dark Lands were peaceful, ever since the fall of King Richard. Bowser made sure of that, especially once he held his little girl for the first time. He and Daisy made sure that they did not create any enemies and presented ideas beneficial to all the kingdoms during those damned meetings that required all the leaders to attend.

Who would want to cause so much pain, in a time of harmony? Who would dare taint the purple skies with smoke and flames? Who enjoyed the screams and cries of others searching for their loved ones, when half of them would never be seen living again? Bowser only wished Daisy were here, with her determined, no nonsense attitude. '_Whoever is doing this is a total dick. We need to kick someone's ass!' _ Bowser chuckled as he imagined what Daisy's response would have been to this chaos.

"Papa, what's so funny?" Lily, along with everyone else looked at him, confused.

"Your mom, she always had the most comical reactions to surprise events. Can't you just imagine what she would be saying right now?" Bowser responded.

"She'd be cussing so much; we'd all fall over laughing!" Lily smiled imagining her mother's facial expressions.

"Guys, I think it would be appropriate to do some mourning. Respect for the dead." Peach murmured, staring at her sleeping son. She looked Mario in the eye; they were thinking the same thing. How could this little girl grow up without a mother? Someone to cry to, talk to, laugh with. Bowser could not raise Lily alone.

Mario nodded his hand in understanding, and bowed his head and clasped his hands in prayer. Everyone followed, sending thoughts to Daisy in heaven, hoping for a safe travel and to always watch over them. They prayed for her to always keep a hand in reach for Lily to grasp onto when she needed a mother's love.

Luigi was not sure how to take this all in. He remembered Daisy being his first love, just not loving him back. He remembered her trying to make it up to him, and even though her best attempts did not work out so well, the fact she tried meant everything. It helped him find Éclair. Sometimes he had wondered what would have happened if Daisy loved him instead, maybe this would not have happened. Maybe they would have had children, but then he never would have met his little "niece", Lily, the daughter he never had. Right now, Lily and Bowser needed all the support they could get. Daisy's assumed death affected everyone, but it must have hurt them the most.

_Auntie was trying to avoid the inevitable, the truth. She didn't want to believe Mama was gone any more than Papa or I did. We all hung our heads low that day, waiting for the attack to cease. How I longed for one more walk with Mama, one where Miss Rosalina came along and they would talk about the constellations and their stories. That day I longed for her to put her hand on my shoulder and say "Darling, let's go make some cookies." I longed for her simply give me a hug goodnight with promises to go to lake first thing in the morning. How I longed for those moments. How I still long for them now, so many years later._


End file.
